Existing customers are the most important asset of a business and retaining and extending your share of their wallet is the most valuable action that can be taken by a business. In this article Steve Downton discusses changing attitudes towards Customer Relationship Management, away from the traditional but outdated capture and utilisation of information about a customer and move towards guiding and directing a customer towards a trusting relationship to the benefit of both parties.
Fully supported service, through the right systems, is no longer an afterthought; instead it provides the cornerstone of the business strategy, providing long-lasting differentiation in the currently extremely competitive environment. This environment now and for the foreseeable future has the consumer holding sway, or to use a colloquialism - it is a buyers’ market! This has come about through customers being much more aware of what they can expect and demand from their supplier, and the willingness of suppliers to accept and deliver to those demands in order to win business. The internet has created availability, and global interaction has reduced the barriers to switching supplier, so retaining customers is about keeping aware of their changing needs and innovating as required, to respond to either spoken or un-spoken needs and provide a cost-effective, potentially unique solution, that will be highly valued and paid for. This apparently straightforward requirement recognises the need for information to guide and direct businesses into relationships that enable customer and supplier to perceive value in a customer-managed relationship. This process also has the added value of creating loyal, satisfied customers prepared to provide promotion and referral for the supplier, with potential new customers.
Providing effective communication quickly and efficiently between the business and the customer is key. The customer interface must be used to provide insight into the changing needs of the customer, but in the current environment, it is a complex task for all aspects of the customer interface to be accurately informed. Many businesses struggle due to poorly or non-integrated systems which become rapidly useless when trying to deal with a situation that is escalating out of control. Dealing with issues immediately is expected by customers: This process is given a number of labels, including concurrent information channels, immediate response, or synchronised actions; but resolutions can only be executed cost-effectively if the information is presented instantaneously and the systems can apply the nformation into immediate action, to manage customer expectations.
The challenge is no longer about capturing or storing data but about managing and acting on the information that is available. Today’s customer has options and products to choose from, with the consequence that no two customers can be regarded in the same way; any concept of segmenting or sampling of groups or customers is bound to limit the awareness of individual customer need. In most instances, current technological solutions are still too heavily focused on operational efficiency and not effectiveness. The broad based solutions available have been developed to provide more than just efficient analytics, with full data management and real time responses to support the increasingly complex service environment requirement, for full integration across the whole business.
Most customers and suppliers will attempt to work together towards a balanced relationship – classically referred to as a win/win. If the Customer values a service, they will pay for it; if the service has no value to the customer it simply becomes a cost for the supplier, as the customer will not accept unnecessary expense.
Managing information in real-time improves response time, and a rapid response means the possibility for disappointment is significantly reduced. Improved control reduces the costs of delivery, giving the opportunity to reduce the price. Leading-edge solution suppliers focus on providing real-time information throughout the business, to deal with the changing dynamics caused by the new role of service.
Leading-edge solutions deliver information across the customer interface and throughout the business. The current generation of customers demand that their supplier be innovative, aware and anticipative. This is only achieved inside a fully integrated solution which closes the loop from information source to information output in real time, ensuring appropriate actions throughout the process. Managing information in this way is now recognised as key; allowing suppliers to respond to minute-by-minute changes in a cost effective and efficient manner. Only management solutions fully integrated into a scheduling and mobile solution can deliver the requirement of high speed conduits pushing, guiding and pulling information from and to prime activity points – thereby creating customer-managed relationship systems that can close the loop from customer request to satisfied rapid closure – “Call to Resolve” – bringing what was once considered an idealistic ambition into reality.
Companies successfully implementing scheduling and mobile solutions have shown improvement in the performance of their Service and Support Systems. When they effectively use and apply real-time information, they are able to manage information and create an integrated or closed loop solution which delivers an immediate and therefore much more cost-effective response.
Successful businesses want the right processes in place, making it easy for people to perform well and impress customers. Having the right system solution in place will ensure customer interface processes are bound to impress.
High-quality processes have a positive impact on the customer, encouraging them through evidence of positive efforts by the supplier. Not surprisingly, customers become more engaged with their supplier if they have a valued conduit into the business, supported by processes which are designed to foster close relationships.
Real-time solutions that enable the integration of these high quality processes do so by ensuring that the information being disseminated is managed, relevant and immediately available. This can only be done using real-time managed information; because once data is stored it potentially becomes invalid and redundant, no longer relevant for solving the particular problem. Open and visible conduits to the customer ensure instantaneous dialogue and up-to-date managed information.
Customer-focused solutions have come a long way in the last 15 years, but the capability is now available to fully integrate mobile and scheduling systems with real-time information, to create a customer-managed relationship that will deliver value at all points and all times to the customer. Businesses now have tools that provide solutions to create the highest levels of customer loyalty, at the most effective cost, utilising the latest and most relevant information available. The ability to manage the customer interface is bringing significant benefits to both sides, creating prosperous customers and suppliers, loyal to each other and both more profitable as a result of their relationship. The bottom line of this capability is that service delivered through customer managed relationships is now a fundamental part of the business, driving up revenue and profits while reducing costs of keeping customers satisfied and loyal.
Steve Downton has established a reputation for providing effective business advice within the Services Sector specialising in guiding senior management teams and supporting service operations both large and small to improve their performance profitability and deliver service excellence. steve.downton@downtonconsulting.com www.downtonconsulting.com © Noventum service management consultants 2010
